Vibram Five Fingers Review

2007-03-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

In short:
I like the Vibram Five Fingers "shoes" and will likely continue to run one shorter distance run per week in them and wear them around the house on a regular basis.

The longer review:
I am a pretty progressive guy. I like to try new things, if I think they make sense. At the same time, I am a minimalist- when I run, I dislike wearing a shirt, and though I have considered using a heart rate monitor or gps to help track my running workouts, I have thus far resisted because it just seems like so much stuff.

In keeping with these values, I have been wanting to try barefoot running for a while. Of course, barefoot running is one of those divisive issues within the running community- a minority of people think it's great, while a majority of people seem to think that it will destroy your knees and the soles of your feet. I never been a big fan of "conventional wisdom", so I was willing to give it a try. However, my wife Valeri opposed barefoot running on two grounds:
I could cut up the soles of my feet on debris, and
I would likely gain ugly calluses, etc. on my soles

So, when I first heard of the Vibram Five Fingers shoes on the Crossfit message board, I was interested in getting a pair, as they would ameliorate Val's problems with my barefoot running. Last February I finally placed the order from the only online vendor I could find, KayakShed.

The shoes are only available in European sizing, but KayakShed's conversion chart worked well for my feet. I wear an 11 in running shoes and I ordered a 44 in the Vibram Five Fingers. They arrived quickly.

I impressed by the shoes themselves- as I had heard before, they are basically gloves for your feet- there is no padding on the soles, and I could feel a lot of the ground through the soles. Vibram recommends that you wear the shoes around for daily activities for a while before trying any running in them, but I think this was unnecessary for me. I already walk around barefoot quite a bit, so I did not experience much of a learning curve in my initial runs.

Since receiving the Vibram Five Fingers, I have worn them for about one run a week of about 3-4 miles (sometimes on asphalt and sometimes on the Town Lake Trail [crushed granite]), and a single run of about 8 miles (the trail + cement).

In general, I really like the Vibram Five Fingers. I find myself wearing them around the house a lot, especially when I work on chores that require me to go in and out of the house repeatedly. I would probably wear them out and about while running errands around the town, except they clash with my [admittedly limited or vestigial] fashion sense. That said, here are some pros and cons for the Vibram Five Fingers. Though the cons have more "column inches", the pros really outweigh them.

Pros:

These are great to run shorter distances in. I love running a quick 5k loop through my neighborhood in the Vibram Five Fingers
It is a joy to run on dirt or grass whilst wearing these
People seem to think they look cool, in a funky kind of way (I live in Austin). I get lots of looks and questions about them- even as I run past people!
They feel very comfortable and natural to wear, even when running

Cons:

The top edge of the Vibram Five Fingers sometimes rubs annoyingly at the hair on the top of my feet
The place where the Vibram Five Fingers' closing mechanism cinches tight irritated the back of my foot initially (though I have now gotten used to it)
I have read that the backs of the Vibram Five Fingers can pop off in running water. I have hiked some trails in them (including water crossings), and while I have not experienced this, I can see it occurring in running water
The tightening mechanism for the Vibram Five Fingers is good but not perfect- sometimes when they are cinched securely on my feet, the tight elastic is a little annoying
When I ran my 8 miler in them, I was hurting by the end of the run. My calves were burning, as were my Achilles. Additionally, I knew I would have a blister on both of my big toes, and the ball of my foot was starting to ache from impacting the ground. Part of the outside of my foot was hurting as well. The burning in my calves and Achilles is fine- that just tells me that they were getting a workout. The blisters are part of life. However, the pain in the ball of my foot and on the outside of my foot was troubling. For these reasons, I think I will restrict my runs in the Vibram Five Fingers to shorter distances in the future. Note that the above "con" is due to the act of barefoot running rather than a specific criticism of the Vibram Five Fingers.

Conclusion:
Now, after having said all the above, I am glad I purchased my Vibram Five Fingers- they are a great addition to the bottom of my closet. They won't replace my Asics running shoes, but they will supplement them- I think I will likely run in them once a week. Additionally, I will run the Capitol 10,000 10k in them this weekend and I expect to get a lot of funny looks and questions about them as I run by.

One final thing to note is that my Vibram Five Fingers are apparently generation one, as there are new models out. I am sure some of my cons have been addressed by the changes in the new models. I may eventually lay my hands on the new models to give them a test as well, but for now I am happy with my "Vibram Five Fingers Classics".

My Garage Gym

Vibram Five Fingers Review